Cardinals manager Oli Marmol ejected for arguing after umpire Doug Eddings told rookie pitcher Hancel Rincon to fix his hat

· Yahoo Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals were able to pull off a 7-6 away win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday — but not without some tension.

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In the sixth inning, with rookie reliever Hancel Rincon making his MLB debut on the mound, home plate umpire Doug Eddings suddenly stopped play mid-at-bat. Though it was unclear at first what Eddings was saying, he appeared to tell Rincon (through catcher Leo Bernal) to fix his hat.

Rincon — whose hat was very, very slightly tilted to the side — was taken out later in the inning after allowing three straight hits and two runs from the Rockies. But while reliever Justin Bruihl warmed up on the mound, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol came out to confront Eddings.

Eddings first responded by awarding St. Louis a pitch clock violation; as Marmol continued to yell at Eddings from the dugout, though, the umpire finally decided to eject Marmol altogether.

Marmol then marched out to confront Eddings one more time, face-to-face. The furious manager appeared to speak to Eddings about correcting Rincon’s hat, repeatedly telling him to “grow the f*** up.”

After the game, Marmol spoke on the incident with reporters, saying that he “took issue” with Eddings’ stoppage.

“Quite honestly, I thought it was pretty embarrassing on his end. We have a kid making his debut,” Marmol said. “He tells him that he needs to fix his hat, and ‘the kid's not wearing his hat like that on my field.’ Last I checked, this was Coors Field.”

Marmol added that he was frustrated with the pitch clock violation that Eddings assessed while they were arguing, calling it “steep.”

“I thought they handled it poorly, and I’d like an explanation at some point,” Marmol said.

After scoring three more runs in the top of the ninth to re-take their lost lead, Cardinals were able to hold on to the 7-6 win thanks to a save from Riley O'Brien. The win moves St. Louis to .500, with a 71-71 record.

Cardinals broadcast announcers Brad Thompson and Chip Caray, who were similarly stumped by Eddings targeting Rincon’s hat, then had a little fun with the win.

“They were Doug (dug) a hole, but it’s a happy Eddings in Colorado,” Caray said after O’Brien recorded the final out.

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